Breaking news! Fifty per cent of Canadians say drivers are getting worse. And the other 50 per cent who believe all is well are probably the drivers who are getting worse. We jest, sort of.
A new survey has found that 57 per cent of British Columbians say there are worse drivers in their city or town than five years ago. Now we’re not sure if the respondents meant that all drivers were getting worse, or that there are a lot of new drivers who are worse than the drivers who were around before. But what we do know is that everyone can agree that more drivers are disobeying the rules of the road.
Four in five Canadians (78 per cent) say they saw a driver not signalling before a turn, including 87 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Three in five Canadians (61 per cent) witnessed a car taking up two spaces in a parking lot – including 75 per cent in Alberta. And, according to the survey, British Columbians appear to be the undisputed leaders in three dangerous behaviours. While half of Canadians (49 per cent) saw a driver not stopping at an intersection when it was required, the proportion jumps to 61 per cent in B.C.
British Columbians are also way ahead of the Canadian average on seeing a car turning right or left from an incorrect lane (58 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in Canada).
The numbers go on and on. Suffice it to say the Insights West online poll doesn’t really tell us anything we wouldn’t have come up with ourselves.
The only strange information in it is the response to whether there are specific groups of people in their city or town who are worse drivers than others.
When asked to identify who is responsible for bad driving, they pointed the finger primarily at young and old drivers. Again, we’re thinking, that both parties may be doing a little fingerpointing at the other generation. But that, again, is a large assumption. We hesitate to guess at what other groups drivers pointed to – as the survey summary didn’t detail those. And, we suspect, it will no doubt have something to do with racism. In any case, there is one group that most can agree are the very worst drivers.
Those are the people who continue to look at their blasted cellphones while driving.
Those people seem to be vying for the worst driver awards in all categories. We used to think drinking drivers were the most dangerous – not that they aren’t extremely dangerous – but the numbers of drivers distracted by their cellphones is giving drunk drivers a run for their money.
